Venezuela’s socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro has raised his country’s minimum wage by a further 40 percent, meaning public sector employees will now earn around two dollars a month in his seventh and final major hike of 2017.

Just a few months ago, amid a worsening humanitarian crisis and the prospect of an illegal power grab, Venezuela’s anti-government protests had reached a tipping point. In April, the opposition coalition announced daily protests against the socialist government led by Nicolás Maduro, leading to street